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Jardin du Palais Royal - A Restful Retreat Near the Louvre

Jardin du Palais Royal

Whew! It's not easy being a tourist in Paris! One of the best things about living here is that I can usually plan my visits to museums and to must-see places like the Marais for times when there aren't that many people, and if the crowds are too intense, I know that I can always return another day.

Yesterday, however, was a bit different because our visitors from Switzerland wanted to purchase tickets for a show at the Comédie-Française, so we found ourselves walking, or weaving our way, down the Rue de Rivoli at noon. Staying together proved to be quite a challenge for our group of seven, especially because there were lots of people who were standing or squatting on the sidewalk while eating their sandwiches and crêpes. I wanted to tell them, "Psst...there's a great place where you can sit down and eat your sandwich in peace just a short walk from here." Since I couldn't tell them, I'm posting it here.

Finding the Jardin du Palais Royal isn't difficult, although I've walked behind quite a few confused tourists, maps in hand, who stop in front of the construction in the first courtyard because they aren't sure if they're allowed to go further. You are. Here are some pictures to guide you.

Starting at the Place Colette, pass to the right of the Comédie-Française and enter the first courtyard, where you'll see lots of black and white striped stone columns with people posing for pictures.

Pass into a second courtyard, where you'll see these:

Keep going, you're almost there!

Ahhh, you've found it, a soothing spot to recover from the rigours of being a tourist in Paris.

You can, of course, enter the Jardin du Palais Royale from other sides but this is my preferred route. It should be particularly beautiful in the coming weeks because the roses are starting to bloom, which reminds me that I need to go back and take some pictures.